Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. (Luke 21:33).
We think of the earth as something solid, firm, lasting forever. Some believe it has been here for billions of years and will remain for billions more. In truth, the earth is passing away as we speak, and it is no more firm than the bubbles children at a festival were trying to burst.
“Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards hell; and if God should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence, and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider’s web would have to stop a falling rock.”
The fragility of our lives, of our deeds, of the very earth is no more solid than the walls of Jericho which fell without warning, (Joshua 6:20) and the Tower of Siloam, which fell without warning. (Luke 13:4). So it will be for the Great Wall of China, which seems so strong and sturdy,
The earth is fragile, cracked and quaking even as we speak-
USGS
The earth staggers like a drunken man; it sways like a hut; its transgression lies heavy upon it, and it falls, and will not rise again. (Isaiah 24:20)
Our lives, our deeds, the very earth is fragile. The breath we draw is fleeting. No more substantial than the silk of a gossamer web, no more sturdy than a butterfly wing, no more lasting than a bubble ascending to some height, only to vanish in its evanescence and be no more.
Jesus lasts forever. He is the eternal, the substantial, the durably secure shelter in which we cling.
The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.” (Deuteronomy 32:4)
Susan Heck has been teaching, worshiping, and mentoring for a long time. She travels the country teaching on various theological topics, and one of her topics is on women and the Bible’s standards for wives.
Recently she presented information at Crossway Bible Church in Kansas. The topic was Forming Faithful Friendships in Christ. The 4 sessions plus Q&A are here: Forming Faithful Friendships in Christ.
Mrs. Heck said something in one of the sessions to which my ears perked up. She said she had been married almost 46 years before her husband passed away. Her husband wanted Susan to show respect for him almost more than her submission to him. She further said that she travels all around and sees that as Christian women we may be failing at the respect mandate.
I know my husband wanted my respect almost more than my submission. ~Susan Heck, Forming Faithful Friendships in Christ, session 3
What does ‘respect’ mean?
We focus quite a bit on Titus 2 instructions because there are different demographics in the verses which apply to any number of women who read it. But Ephesians 5:33 also plainly sets out a biblical behavior standard, this time, for wives.
Nevertheless, as for you individually, each husband is to love his own wife the same as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband. (Ephesians 5:33).
It’s a command. Respect the husband.
5:22 wives While the cultural model for marriage in the Graeco-Roman world emphasized male patriarchal leadership, Paul’s model is based mutual love and respect (Eph 5:28, 33) and grounded in the OT creation story (v. 31 cites Gen 2:24). Faithlife Study Bible (Eph 5:22).
So what IS this respect?
v. 33. Reverence [respect] consists of love and esteem, which produce a care to please, and of fear, which awakens a caution lest just offence be given. Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible.
What does this word ‘respect’ mean in context? The word is used 95 times in the New Testament. The word in Greek in the Ephesians verse is phobeomai and it means fear, dread, reverence, am afraid, terrified.
You might notice the similarity to the word phobos, from which we get the English word phobia.Phobos in Greek means “fear” or “terror.”
WHAT?! Are we supposed to be afraid of our husbands!? No, see the usage explained from the Lexicon–
Usage: The Greek verb “phobeó” primarily means to fear or be afraid. It can denote a range of emotions from terror and dread to reverence and awe. In the New Testament, “phobeó” is used both in the context of fear of danger or harm and in the sense of reverential awe towards God. The term can imply a healthy respect or acknowledgment of God’s power and authority, as well as a warning against disobedience or sin.
So the word is used in different ways. We are not to fear the husband as we submit to him. We are to reverence him.
WHAT?! Like Sarah did when she called her husband ‘lord’?
Tissot, Abram counsels Sarai, c. 1896-1902. Source
Well…yes. As Peter instructed in 1 Peter 3:5-6, not to adorn themselves with outward treasures such as gold or braided hair, but inwardly with a pure conscience and respect toward the husband-
For in this way the holy women of former times, who hoped in God, also used to adorn themselves, being subject to their own husbands, just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord; and you have proved to be her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.
Again, the word respect has many nuances and different meanings when studied. In the Ephesians verse it means a proper fear wrapped in reverence. As Christ is the head of the church we fear Him in reverent awe and respect, and since the husband is the stand-in for Christ in the home, leading with a sacrificial love that would lay down his life for his family, wives are to respect that, and fear him in the sense that Matthew Henry explained above and also below- with a reverential fear of offending.
Wives should be subject to their husbands, not from dread and amazement, but from desire to do well, and please God. ~MHenry
Lexicon again-
Paul shifted from submits (vv 22, 24) to respects (phobeomai, which means “reverence,” “fear offending”), implying that submission is the showing of respect. When a husband and wife fulfill their biblical roles, their marriage will function the way God intended. Bond, J. B. (2010). The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians. The Grace New Testament Commentary.
Aren’t respect and submission the same thing?
Now it must be said that submitting to and respecting the husband are two different things. Of submission and respect, a wife can do one without the other. See Wendy Alsup here-
Surprisingly enough, I did not personally have that much of a problem with the concept of submitting to my husband. But respect was much harder. I could submit and still harbor anger and bitterness. I could still put out the vibe that says, “I am disappointed in your decision-making skills.” In fact, submission without respect let me live in a delusion of self-righteousness. “I am submitting, but I do not think you know what you are doing, and I am going to continue to let you know that I do not trust you with my attitude, even though, technically, I am submitting on this issue.” Submission does not equal respect. And submission without respect brings NO honor to God. Why would God command the combination of the two?” Alsup, W. H. (2010). By His wounds you are healed: How the message of Ephesians transforms a woman’s identity (pp. 133–134).
Wives, and I’ve been a wife before salvation, we know how to seemingly acquiesce but passively aggressively disrespect him, don’t we?
So, how do we respect our husbands?
Susan Heck in her lesson on What does a Spirit Filled Marriage look Like? (and there is also a similarly titled booklet at her web store you can buy) lists 6 ways we can respect the husband. In the video she explains them but I won’t steal her thunder here, I’ll just list them.
1.Respect your husband’s work. Show an interest in your husband’s work whatever he does, 2. Respect his speech, 3. Respect his privacy, 4. Respect his eats (don’t nag him about what he eats), 5. Respect his convictions -some of you I know have unbelieving husbands but you still can graciously listen and reason with him, 6. Respect his time.
The Puritan view of marital love was overwhelmingly positive because it was informed by the Bible, the written Word of the God who instituted marriage at the time of our creation and regulated it by His commandments. As Packer says, “They went to Genesis for its institution, to Ephesians for its full meaning, to Leviticus for its hygiene, to Proverbs for its management, to several New Testament books for its ethic, and to Esther, Ruth and the Song of Songs for illustrations and exhibitions of the ideal.” They let the practices, duties, and ethics of marriage flow out of Scripture.
Ultimately the love of both husband and wife must be guided and energized by the fear of the Lord, and scripture contains all we need to use as the model and guide for marital life.
I love when I receive questions. It encourages me because the queries show me that there are women out there who care about discernment, about Jesus, and about the purity of their walk with Him. That’s all discernment is: a process of training one’s self to have an ever more pure walk with Jesus. To learn who and what to go toward and who and what to stay away from in order to attain a more clear view of Him.
Here are the other two questions and my answers. I certainly do not have a monopoly on answers or final knowledge of the Bible. How would you have replied? What is your stance on some of these things?
Can a wolf be saved? Is there a hope for them in terms of genuine repentance, and saving faith?
I’ve often wondered this. Quite a bit, actually. Not knowing the answer and only surmising as to some notions as you’ll see below, I still do pray for the false teachers the Lord burdens my heart with.
Now, God CAN save anyone. He saved Saul the persecutor and turned him into the most productive evangelist and missionary in the history of the world. Jesus pronounced woes and invectives upon the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes (so did John the Baptist). But Sadducee Joseph of Arimathea and Pharisee Nicodemus were more than likely genuine believers by the end.
However … my personal feeling of the actual false teachers, the ones embedded in Christianity and profess to love Jesus, is no, they will not be saved. Here are my reasons:
First- Jude 1:4 seems to indicate that at least some of these false teachers were deliberately raised up for God’s reasons, and were always marked for condemnation. After all, “There must be heresies among you so that those who are approved might be made manifest” (1 Corinthians 11:19). 2 Peter 2:1 seems to indicate the same. 1 Timothy 4:1-2 says these hypocrites have a seared conscience.
At some point, Jesus turns the rebels over to their sin. (Romans 1:21). Of course, we do not know the point if and when it occurs in various individuals.
Secondly, as to the seared conscience and also remembering Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, these false teachers, if they actually had the Holy Spirit in them, they would not persist in their evil teaching ways. The Holy Spirit always points us toward truth. It might take weeks, months, or in some rare cases a year or so, but someone cannot and does not persist for 40 years as a false teacher and then suddenly repent.
Romans 1:25 says they know God, but they exchanged the truth of God for falsehood, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
I’ve never seen a long-term, false professing Christian teacher repenting, and I’ve never heard of it. It is more likely that they are seared in conscience, hardened in heart, and being used by God as a judgment. Here is Paul Washer on false teachers. clip is 5 min, here is the beginning of it-
Washer transcript: “False teachers are God’s judgment on people who don’t want God, but in the name of religion plan on getting everything their carnal heart desires. That’s why a Joel Osteen is raised up. Those people who sit under him are not victims of him. He is the judgment of God upon them because they want exactly what he wants and it’s not God.”
God allows false teachers so that it may be manifest those who are true. There must be heresies among you so that those who are approved might be made manifest. (1 Corinthians 11:19).
Can a person truly be a wolf if they believe in and teach sound doctrine?
Let’s look at the word “believe”. The demons believed in Jesus. In fact in Mark it was demons who assigned to Jesus the highest praise name of all- the Holy One of God. Judas believed sound doctrine. The issue is, they did not submit to it. They are rebels. So we need to be careful using the term ‘believe in Jesus’.
Let’s look at the word “doctrine”: All false teachers mix truth with the false. They all twist doctrine in some way, some more skillfully and hidden and others more easily detected (Example, Beth Moore- skillfully twisting her doctrine to make it seem sound, Todd Bentley- false doctrine easily detected). So it depends on what is meant by ‘sound doctrine’. Also, new converts might believe Louie Giglio is sound or a Beth Moore but as they grow they realize their doctrine is not sound. So while soundness is soundness, our perception of it is a continuum.
No doubt, false teachers may be difficult to recognize in the moment. If we don’t have access to their personal lives, or their doctrinal compromises haven’t yet been manifest publicly in their behavior, we may find it difficult to know whether they are true. But time will tell. They will be known by their fruit — not the fruit of ministry quantity and numbers, but quality and endurance — and ultimately the quality of their own lives. ~Dave Mathis, The Surprising Truth about False Teachers
Rick Warren appeared to teach sound doctrine. So did David Platt. For a while. Billy Graham appeared to teach soundly for a long time but secretly held heretical beliefs. Ravi Zacharias appeared to teach sound doctrine, in fact was noted for it, but was living a grossly immoral secret life. Look at lifestyle as part of any assessment of a teacher of the Bible.
Apollos was a diligent student of scripture and knowledgeable, and he taught, but he did not have the full story of the new covenant, only John’s Baptism. Did his lack mean he was false? No, because his teachableness and humility when approached by Priscilla and Aquila were also indicators of his status as true teacher. He did not reject the fuller knowledge, in fact, he hastily absorbed it and went on in humility to become a noted true teacher of the Gospel.
Beth Moore knows the full story of the Bible but chooses NOT to teach it even when urged, reminded, alerted, and corrected. Romans 1:25 applies to her.
All in all, false teachers are bad. They should not be tolerated, even a little bit.
And in the Scripture they are never tolerated. They’re never tolerated as sort of partially right and needing to be helped along to the fullness of the truth, they are totally denounced, condemned to eternal damnation. ~John MacArthur, Portrait of False Teachers part 1
Conclusion
The best thing to do is to train in discernment and to: –stay in the word frequently if not daily –appeal to the Holy Spirit daily for help in interpreting it rightly –pray for growth in discernment
The Lord will give these good gifts to His children, because they are aligned with HIS will.
I love when I receive questions. It encourages me because the queries show me that there are women out there who care about discernment, about Jesus, and about the purity of their walk with Him. That’s all discernment is: a process of training one’s self to have an ever more pure walk with Jesus. To learn who and what to go toward and who and what to stay away from in order to attain a more clear view of Him.
The other day I received some questions and after mulling for a day or so, I answered. I certainly do not have a monopoly in answers or final knowledge of the Bible. How would you have replied? What is your stance on some of these things?
There were 4 questions. I’ll answer 2 today and 2 tomorrow.
Are wolves pastor-teachers only or can they be lay people within the congregation?
The word wolf is used in reference to and sometimes synonymously with the terms false prophets, false teachers, deceitful workers, deceitful spirits… The Bible seems to emphasize that such people frequently appear in leadership roles – likely because that is where they can do the most damage – but they do not appear exclusively in that role. Galatians 2:4 indicates that false brothers were brought in further, the reason they came in- to spy and to enslave-
Yet it was a concern because of the false brothers secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy on our freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to enslave us. (Galatians 2:4).
Paul recounted that one of his many dangers was from from false brothers, 2 Corinthians 11:26.
Paul said in Acts 20:29-30 “Even from your own number, men will rise up and distort the truth to draw away disciples after them.”
Jude 1:4 notes, For certain men have crept in among you unnoticed—ungodly ones…
As to the term used “false brothers” – quoted from the Greek Lexicon, “The term “pseudadelphos” refers to someone who pretends to be a brother in faith but is not genuine. It is used to describe individuals who infiltrate Christian communities with ulterior motives, often causing division or spreading false teachings. The term highlights the danger of deceit within the church and the need for discernment among believers.”
So while the wolves who appear as pastors present false doctrine to lead astray, the false brothers cause division and lead astray. Wolves have various roles and can and do appear anywhere.
Every New Testament book except Philemon warns of false teachers who appear in some form or another.
Matthew 13 describes the parable of the weeds (tares). “and the weeds are the sons of the evil one”; Satan sows deceitful workers. ALL hypocrites and unbelievers in the church are the work of Satan, whether they are called a wolf or any of the other names noted above. Thus, a wolf can describe any person, not just a teacher, seeking to undermine Jesus’ teaching, and we know from 2 Peter 2:3 their main motivation is greed or personal gain.
Do wolves come in varying degrees of “badness”? Are there are certain wolves that are worse than others?
In Matthew 7:15, the Greek term “harpax” is used in the verse when speaking of ravenous in ‘ravenous wolves’.
Quoting the Lexicon, “It’s used in the New Testament to describe individuals who are greedy, grasping, or who take by force. It conveys the idea of someone who is not only eager to possess more than they have but is willing to do so through unjust or violent means. This word is often used to characterize those who exploit others for personal gain.”
In Acts 20:29 Paul used the term “savage wolves”. In the Greek Lexicon savage “is used to describe something that is heavy or burdensome, both in a literal and metaphorical sense. It can refer to physical weight or to something that is difficult to bear, such as a severe trial or a grievous situation. In the New Testament, it often conveys the idea of something oppressive or hard to endure.”
Wolves are bad, we know this. But then the Apostles specifically warned that the wolves who come in are especially bad. Through and through. There is no such thing as a gentle wolf, a kind wolf, or a baby wolf cub so cute we don’t need a warning about handling them. Even in Song of Solomon 2:15 we read that even little foxes can ruin vineyards. (Commentary here).
cub fox, AI. Cute, eh? They’ll ruin your vineyard!
Some false teachers expose all their badness earlier while other false teachers hide it longer, but while outside they are whitewashed, inside they are all tombs. Professing false brothers, hypocrites, wolves, false teachers- which are all synonyms- are an abomination to Jesus. They are all bad all the time, no matter how ‘good’ they appear. They produce evil and garbage.
If you were presented with three casseroles at a potluck; one perfectly cooked, one with a little fecal matter in it, or one totally full of fecal matter, which would you eat? ALL wolves are bad and are bad for you. Their character is all the same, no matter what version they appear in (teacher, helper, student, disciple, etc). They are arrogant, immoral, promote immorality, and are propelled by greed. We read this characterization in both 2 Peter and Jude.
Remember, they MASQUERADE as sincere, helpful, kind people. (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). The undiscerning sometimes can’t see through that, OR they have helped in the heaping up of these wolves and don’t wish to see how bad the false teachers really are. (2 Timothy 4:3).
For some people it is hard for them to reconcile the vivid descriptions of false teachers in the Bible to the smiling, toothy visage of a Joel Osteen, or the excited energy of a seemingly friendly Beth Moore, or the longevity of a Charismatic Benny Hinn, but indeed, inside they are ravenous wolves. Remember the term “masquerade”.
Cultural and Historical Background: In the Greco-Roman world, the concept of changing one’s form or appearance was not uncommon, often associated with theatrical performances or philosophical ideas about the nature of reality and perception. The New Testament usage of ‘disguise’ reflects a deeper spiritual reality, emphasizing the contrast between genuine transformation in Christ and superficial or deceptive changes.
masks.
We are always at risk. We are sheep. False teacher wolves have been hunting believing sheep for millennia. They know how to trick, deceive, disguise, and play the cunning helper. It’s why we need the strength, wisdom, and word of God to protect us. Discernment is important.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the rampant issue in evangelicalism concerning “God told me.” So many men and women are running around with alleged prophecies and all sorts of messages the ‘voice’ supposedly told them.
Even more sad is the number of people that believe that God is speaking to these so-called prophets. If God is speaking now outside of the Bible, it makes the Bible INsufficient for all teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness, and makes 2 Timothy 3:16-17 which says it is sufficient, into a lie.
That scriptural fact notwithstanding, there is another issue with the people who claim God is telling them things, whispering things, and/or promising them things outside of the Bible. The news He is allegedly bringing is never the kind that is spoken of in the Bible. Like, what kind, you ask? Well,
When Jesus was commissioning Ananais to go to Saul/Paul, Ananias balked a little, saying that Saul has been persecuting everyone all over the place. Jesus replied and told Ananias how much Paul must suffer for the sake of His name. Here is what was said,
But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; 16 for I will show him how much he must suffer in behalf of My name.” (Acts 9:15-16).
I remember people oohing and ahhing over the testimony of HGTV’s Fixer Upper co-host Joanna Gaines. Did God tell Joanna that she will suffer much for His name? No. Was her prophecy something like this-
But the Lord said to her husband Chip, “Go, for she is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show Joanna how much she must suffer in behalf of My name.“
Somehow, suffering for the Lord is never part of the ‘prophecies’ or conversations these ladies purport to have in these conversations with God. What DID ‘Jesus’ allegedly promise Joanna Gaines?
“I hear God say very clearly, he said, ‘Joanna if you trust me with your dreams I’m going to take Magnolia further than you could have ever dreamed so just trust me.’“
Sure. Sure. It always seems like ‘God’ says he will give the lady a comfy life and make all her dreams come true.
Isaiah was a true prophet of God. God raised Isaiah either bodily or in a vision to the throne room.
Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your guilt is taken away and atonement is made for your sin.” (Isaiah 6:7)
How lovely is this. It brought tears to my eyes. Isaiah was gifted with a vision of the throne room. Aghast that a worm such as he would be near the holy God, the angel flew to him and touched his lips with a burning coal and says his sins were atoned for. Isaiah lived 700 years BEFORE the cross. In heaven there is no time. Isaiah’s sins were atoned for even though on earth Jesus had not incarnated and died yet. But God’s word is SO SURE that Isaiah’s sins were atoned for even though the event had not occurred yet in our time.
EPrata photo
But isn’t it curious how these women who claim ‘God’ comes to them never seem to have the same reaction other people in the Bible have when confronted with the presence of the actual Jehovah? Which is to cower in fear and despair that His holiness shows up the depth of our sin?
But God was not giving Isaiah this vision just to offer a tour of heaven. God had a message for Isaiah. He was calling Isaiah to be God’s prophet! What exciting personal news did Isaiah receive? It was that Isaiah was going to speak God’s word, but no one would pay attention.
Isaiah wondered how long this dire circumstance would be his calling.
Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate, 12The LORD has completely removed people, And there are many forsaken places in the midst of the land. (Isaiah 6:11-12).
Gulp. Not so cheery is it? It is one of the most supremely majestic scenes in the Bible. And yet the news was not so personally beneficial to Isaiah, as these conversations nowadays always seem to be with the claims of conversations with God.
In this scene, all is spoken in august language, reverentially, mindful of the Holy One of Israel, the Ancient of Days whose robe filled the temple.
Now we turn to a prophecy and vision Beth Moore supposedly had. She was lifted up too! She even went farther than Isaiah in that Jesus showed her things as HE sees them, not as Isaiah sees them, which is that we are undone before a holy God. No, Beth Moore was given a peek at how Jesus sees the church, and in another dimension no less!
Beth said, “You know what He said just a few days ago? “Honey, I just want you to know we’re just beginning.”
Honey?
And it was as if I was raised up looking down on a community, as I saw the church in that particular dimension- certainly not all dimensions, not even in many, but in what we will discuss tonight, the church, as Jesus sees it, in a particular dimension. Oh, glory! That meant I had begun. Hallelujah! But He was telling me, “When this ends, we ain’t done with this. Honey, this is what we do for the rest of your life.” And He said those words to me over and over again: “Believe Me. Believe Me.”
God said ‘We ain’t done with this honey’? Really?
Sure, sure.
God told Peter when he was old, that he’d stretch out his hands and go where he did not want, a prophecy most interpret as Peter’s crucifixion-martyrdom.
Contrast this to today’s prosperity prophecies. When God speaks it’s to tell women they are enough, they are a princess, so beautiful, will have a platform, will do wonderful things. God has a wonderful plan for your life, God is going to do amazing things. It’s always centered around something pleasant for the woman, not so much about advancing God’s holy plan.
Will He do as amazing as a thing as render all Israel a desolate land? An agonizing death? A suffering life? An ignored Prophet? These were actual prophecies in the Bible.
The canon is closed. God’s new revelation ended with Revelation 22. I’m not saying God CAN’T speak now, of course He can. It’s just that He closed the Bible with a warning not to add to the book nor take away from it. He said that at the present time, He would not be speaking. It’s not a question of His ability, it’s a question of His consistency.
Think carefully about the prophecies (conversations, whispers, voices) are saying to these women (and men). The content of these conversations is inconsistent with God’s previously delivered word. The language use is inconsistent with God’s previously given word. Compare to the Bible. They all come up short, because the canon is closed and the word as given is sufficient.
Study your Bible to “hear” God’s voice. His word is God-breathed.
“Man without Christ is a shipwreck upon the rocks, rocked by every wave of temptation, with no anchor, with no hope. Death looms before him as a door to judgment, for the wages of sin is death,” says Dustin Benge in his Hearts Aflame episode of Puritan devotionals.
In the episode above, we meet Scottish late Puritan Thomas Boston. In Boston’s well-regarded classic, Human Nature in its Fourfold State, Benge explains that “Thomas Boston vividly portrays the fallen condition of humanity—alienated from God, enslaved to sin, and without hope apart from Christ. The depth of human ruin is sobering, yet it magnifies the glory of divine grace.”
Do you recognize the depth of your natural misery without Christ’s redemption?
The episode talked about man without Christ,
“Man without Christ is like a ship wrecked upon the rocks, tossed by every wave of temptation, with no anchor, no hope.”
This maritime metaphor is real to me. I have sailed about 15,000 nautical miles living in a sailboat upon the waters from Maine to Florida and across to the Bahamas and back, twice. I’ve sailed from Tampa Florida to the Dry Tortugas, and zoomed from Naples, Florida to Rhode Island in a 21 foot powerboat. I’ve crossed the Gulf Stream in calm, at night, and in a storm. Gone through the washing machine that is Hell’s Gate in New York City. I’ve been in the Storm of the Century 1993. I’ve been in Hurricane Bob. I know lighthouses, rocks, shoals, and shipwrecks (Charley’s Crab was lost in the storm of ’93, and another friend lost his boat in a different storm in the Caribbean). We came close to shipwreck ourselves, twice.
Shipwreck is a very bad thing.
Worse would be making a shipwreck of the faith.
Russian painter Ivan Aivazovsky (1817-1900) made a career out of painting maritime scenes, including shipwrecks. Like this one:
Without Christ, we can do nothing. Oh, I know the skeptic will say, ‘Doody-head, of course we do things! We live and breathe and work and have kids and play baseball and drive cars and all the things!” Correct. But the pagan without Christ can do nothing that pleases Him. Without Christ we cannot bear fruit for the kingdom, worship Him rightly, live for holiness, reflect His image, or do anything at all.
Paul advised Timothy to ‘fight the good fight’, keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. (1 Timothy 1:19).
Jude wrote that the ungodly pretenders are unreasoning animals and warned that they “are the ones who are hidden reefs in your love feasts…“(Jude 1:12a). Do you know what hidden reefs do? Wreck your ship.
“The Ninth Wave” by Ivan Aivazovsky
Hebrews 2:1 says For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. Do you know what happens when you don’t pay attention? Your mooring becomes loose and you drift away from the dock or the mothership, and untethered, you soon lose sight of land. Shipwreck.
“The Wrath of the Seas” Ivan Aivazosky
‘Drifting’ is the thing to be afraid of. Just as some boat, not made fast to the bank, certainly glides down stream so quietly and with so little friction that her passengers do not know that they are moving until they come up on deck, and see new fields around them, so the ‘things which we have heard,’ and to which we ought to be moored or anchored, we shall drift, drift, drift away from, and, in nine cases out of ten, shall not feel that we are moving, till we are roused by hearing the noise of the whirlpools and the falls close ahead of us; and look round and see a strange country. McLaren’s Expositions.
Now, if you are truly saved, you can never lose your salvation. Judas had the rejection inside of him all the while, he just pretended to be a disciple of Christ. He followed with his feet, but his heart could do nothing.
Matthew Henry says of 1 Timothy 1:19’s shipwreck,
As for those who had made shipwreck of the faith, he specifies two, Hymeneus and Alexander, who had made a profession of the Christian religion, but had quitted that profession; and Paul had delivered them to Satan. Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 2352).
Warren Wiersbe said, “Paul changed the illustration from army to navy (1 Tim. 1:19). He warned Timothy that the only way to succeed was to hold fast to “faith and a good conscience.” It is not enough to proclaim the faith with our lips; we must practice the faith in our daily lives“. Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 213). Victor Books.
A good conscience is key to the verse. Shipwreck comes when one ignores the conscience, suppresses what is good, and eventually sears it so that he or she drifts, winds up on the rocks, and wrecks their faith.
As is said in the Hearts Aflame article, The depth of human ruin is sobering, yet it magnifies the glory of divine grace.” The wondrous mystery is that Jesus relieves us of our sin burden, erases it from the record books when we repent. Those who recognize the depth of our natural misery are deeply grateful for having this burden and misery removed. The Lord’s divine grace shines so brightly that the Christian never looks away but only grows in love and attachment to Him, and as a result, we are “keeping a pure conscience.”
I have always been a museum-goer. My parents did a good job of introducing me to cultural things and museums were one of those cultural things. A museum is where I first heard the word “curate” or “curator”.
According to AI, “A curator’s role involves overseeing and managing collections, including historical items, artwork, and other artifacts, ensuring their preservation, proper presentation, and accessibility for exhibits and displays within institutions like museums, libraries, and historical sites.“
The curator selects the art pieces and decides which goes where in order to make a cohesive experience for the viewer in the museum, or gallery, wherever the pieces are that have been curated.
And that setting is where the word “curate” remained for most of my adult life.
Until the internet. Until the internet really got going with social media exploding everywhere.
Now I hear the word curate all the time. According to AI again, in terms of social media,
“In the context of social media, “curate” means selecting and sharing valuable, relevant content created by others to engage your audience and build your brand’s reputation as a credible source of information.”
Everyone is a curator. People curate their Facebook wall. They curate their Twitter stream. They curate their Instagram photos. They curate their TikToks. Everybody is a curator.
I got to thinking… do we curate our souls?
The world’s most precious commodity is the soul. Everybody has one. Someone somewhere might not have a social media to curate, but everyone has a soul.
“The sinful body is the sepulchre in which it is entombed, until Christ giveth it life.” ~The Greatness of the Soul, John Bunyan.
The New Testament is FULL of wise advice, admonitions, and exhortations on how to curate this precious item, this invisible, ephemeral, but real and actual thing. A soul dwells inside all who are unborn and who are born. It emerges wrapped in flesh and lurks in the heart to do only evil against God.
Upon Adam’s sampling the fruit, Boston wrote, “Death also seized his soul; he lost his original righteousness, and the favor of God; witness the pangs of conscience which made him hide himself from God. And he became liable to eternal death…“
But God’s mercy is such that He did not leave us in that hopeless state. He sent His own Son to live the perfectly holy life that we could not ever live. He was killed for this, dying on the cross, and buried. But He rose again on the third day and ascended into heaven, to sit at the right hand of the Father. His feet are upon the footstool of all enemies, including death.
“Turn your eyes, O prisoners of hope, towards the Lord Jesus Christ; and embrace him, as he offers himself in the gospel. “There is no salvation in any other,” Acts 4:12.” Thomas Boston, “Human Nature in its Fourfold State“.
If you have been redeemed, dear reader, how do you curate your soul? The very soul wrested from death’s grip at bloody expense? Have you committed your interests to the Glorious Savior?
Boston again, “Be frequently reflecting upon your conduct, and considering what course of life you wish to be found in, when death arrests you; and act accordingly. When you do the duties of your station in life, or are employed in acts of worship, think with yourselves, that, it may be, this is the last opportunity; and therefore do it as if you were never to do more of that kind. When you lie down at night, compose your spirits, as if you were not to awake until the heavens be no more. And when you awake in the morning, consider that new day as your last; and live accordingly.”
When we receive the word of God, we have a responsibility to it. Before we are saved, our responsibility is to repent and believe the Gospel, for the Kingdom of God is at hand (Mark 1:15).
After we are saved, we still have a responsibility regarding our response to the word. Here is my pastor:
“What you receive from it will be directly related to how you receive it. Look at the verse in Mark 4:24. With the measure you use, it will be measured to you and still more will be added to you. Now that’s a very simple principle. What you get out of or from God’s word will depend on how well you pay attention to it. In other words, there’s a reward for diligent understanding of God’s word, diligent effort. If you apply yourself to carefully understanding and heeding God’s word, you’re going to be richly rewarded for your efforts.”
The pastor continues with other verses along the same principles, earnestly devoting yourself to the Word as you receive it will yield wisdom, discernment, joy, and more. Pastor again:
“In Proverbs 19, verse 27; Cease to hear instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge. But if you take heed of what you’ve been taught, then the truth will become a guard over you. Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 4:16, keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by doing so, you will save both yourself and your hearers. And so don’t be careless in how you receive God’s Word. Pay attention to what you hear. And like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk that by it you may grow up into salvation. Have you been careful in how you hear? In our scripture reading today in Hebrews 5, the author criticizes the audience. He says, you have become dull of hearing, Hebrews 5, verse 11; “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food. For everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” In other words, this is a classic description of someone who has not taken heed of the truth. They have not received it, thought carefully about it, and applied it to their lives.”
On the next day’s devotional, I heard Dustin Benge’s reading of the Puritan John Owen from his classic “Communion with God.” The principle of hearing well was brought up again. These ‘spiritual coincidences’ delight me.
The father’s love “was fixed on us before the foundation of the world. Before we were, or had done the least good, then were his thoughts upon us, — then was his delight in us; — then did the Son rejoice in the thoughts of fulfilling his Father’s delight in him, Prov. 8:30, says Owen. Why did the father love us? There was “nothing in us for which we should be beloved” and “though we change every day, yet his love changeth not. Could any kind of provocation turn it away, it had long since ceased. Its unchangeableness is that which carries out the Father unto that infiniteness of patience and forbearance…”
Seeking the special closeness with God through our prayers and receiving of His word is a special privilege of the saints. “Men are generally esteemed according to the company they keep. It is an honour to stand in the presence of princes, though but as servants. What honour, then, have all the saints, to stand with boldness in the presence of the Father, and there to enjoy his bosom love!” says Owen. “What a safe and sweet retreat is here for the saints, in all the scorns, reproaches, scandals, misrepresentations, which they undergo in the world.”
“His love is not ours in the sweetness of it until it be so received. Continually, then, act thoughts of faith on God, as love to thee, — as embracing thee with the eternal free love before described. When the Lord is, by his word, presented as such unto thee, let thy mind know it, and assent that it is so; and thy will embrace it, in its being so; and all thy affections be filled with it. Set thy whole heart to it; let it be bound with the cords of this love.” ~John Owen
Receive His word faithfully, earnestly, knowing His love is immense and directed toward His children. Receive it, do diligence with it, and return this love in worship and in all our strength, mind, and heart.
Fly to the fountain, once filled with blood, now gushing love to all who are in Him. Receive His word with joy, implant it in your heart, do not delay, for within is a bountiful mercy. Owen concludes,
“Indeed, the great sin of believers is, that they make not use of Christ’s bounty as they ought to do; that we do not every day take of him mercy in abundance. The oil never ceaseth till the vessels cease; supplies from Christ fail not, but only when our faith fails in receiving them.”
There is a social media story going around that alleges a man died in a hospital and spent 11 hours in heaven. It’s an older story, 6 or 7 years old, but getting traction now. The man said he got a full tour, complete with glowing-eyed monsters, demons climbing out of the pit to claw his back, fires, green grass so beautiful and symmetrical, feathered angels hugging him, and Jesus face to face.
“Jim was never a religious man. When it came to matters of God and faith, he was ambivalent. But as he lay in the hospital bed, clinically dead for more than 11 hours, his consciousness was transported to the wonders of Heaven and the horrors of hell. When he returned to this world, he brought back the missing peace his soul had been longing for.“
He told his story on Youtube, saying he was never particularly religious, if anything, he was agnostic. He said, “I hoped that someone was in charge of the chaos but I never sought it out.”
Stop and think, if the people who Jesus has chosen from the foundation of the world to be one of His, and this man was a Jesus-rejecting sinner, why would Jesus give him, and not others the opportunity to preview what he would be missing if he continued in his unsaved state?
The man has traveled around North and South America, having spoken to about 20,000 people so far.
“James, my son, this is not yet your time. Go back and tell your brothers and sisters of the wonders we have shown you. While he now attends church, Woodford doesn’t affiliate with any denomination, eschewing labels. ‘Labels do not matter to God. He knows your heart better than you do,’ he states. For Woodford, it boils down to living a life of kindness and service. “That’s how simple the love of God is. It requires nothing more of you other than a dedication to doing good for others.” source.
Didn’t the Rich Man in Hades beg Abraham to send his servant Lazarus to his brothers to warn them of their impending doom? And didn’t Abraham say,
‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ 31But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.‘” (Luke 16:19-31).
some heaven tourism books, still popular
Was Abraham wrong? This man’s friends will listen to him since he rose from the dead? You see how the contradictions mount up.
It is not your time? Doesn’t the precision of God dictate perfection in birth and death? Was his entrance to heaven a mistake?
The man said that the experience apprised him of how wasteful his life had been, accumulating wealth, being unkind, unhelpful. These are normal things a convert says when truly converted, we recognize that. But the method of his alleged conversion is distinctly false. Jesus is not giving guided tours of heaven, personal messages or warnings, and then sending the person back to their body. In normal life, a near-death experience often changes people, but the change is not sourced from the blood of the Lamb to His elect. It’s a moral decision from inside the person.
And just as it is destined for people to die once, and after this comes judgment, (Hebrews 9:27)
Tim Challies said of one particular book during the height of the heaven tourism era 12 years ago, “I am not going to review To Heaven and Back. It’s pure junk, fiction in the guise of biography, paganism in the guise of Christianity.”
In fact, there came to be such an outcry against the spate of these books being pumped out, that in 2014, “LifeWay Christian Resources has stopped selling all “experiential testimonies about heaven” following consideration of a 2014 Southern Baptist Convention resolution on “the sufficiency of Scripture regarding the afterlife.”
Paul reluctantly, very reluctantly described some of his experience in heaven, not for titillating or self-serving purposes, his trip to third heaven. He refused even to name himself as the ‘traveler’, and he said specifically there were some things man was not even permitted to say.
And yet all these people allegedly return from ‘heaven’ and gush about their experience. And make money off them…
Did Mary and Martha’s brother Lazarus write a parchment and travel around telling his story of being dead for 4 days and his experience of the afterlife? No.
One minute after you slip behind the parted curtain, you will either be enjoying a personal welcome from Christ or catching your first glimpse of gloom as you have never known it. Either way, your future will be irrevocably fixed and eternally unchangeable. Erwin Lutzer, One Minute After You Die
Our eternity should be taken seriously. It is a weighty matter, and not one for merchandising, flippantly joking about, or bearing tales about. Lutzer again,
And so while relatives and friends plan your funeral- deciding on a casket, a burial plot, and who the pallbearers shall be— you will be more alive than you have ever been. You will either see God on His throne surrounded by angels and redeemed humanity, or you will feel an indescribable weight of guilt and abandonment. There is no destination midway between these two extremes; just gladness or gloom.
The scriptures are sufficient to tell us how to prepare for the moments after our bodies cease, and our souls go to its place, awaiting judgment and a fitted body for heaven. Failing to prepare, which means failing to repent and believe in the resurrected and ascended Jesus, a person will be fitted with a body for hell.
A way to determine that these stories are false, aside from the time that one author came out and said he had been lying all along, is that the people who claim to have gone to heaven claim to have spoken with grandma or seen family or been hugged by friends, and had been shown green grass and beauty…fail to mention the ONE THING that will capture our attention: Jesus on his throne.
Here is Todd Friel with a one minute comment on that: Auto-start at 5:07- ends at 6:29
Anytime somebody tells you they’ve been to heaven, do not believe it. This is mysticism. This is trying to get in touch with the divine, with deity through subjective experience and disengaging the mind
Just as visions are not happening today, just as God isn’t directly speaking/whispering to anybody today, trips to heaven are not happening. They either come from a lying tongue or a deceived mind.
I was asked about the Lifeway Bible Study “When You Pray.” The study involves a collection of authors, who wrote a chapter each. They are- Kelly Minter, Jackie Hill Perry, Jen Wilkin, Jennifer Rothschild, Jada Edwards, and Kristi McLelland. It is a 7-session lesson designed for small groups, self alone, or a retreat accompanied by the separately purchased ‘Group Experience Kit’. Each session was written by the different author listed above. It includes a video component for each session. The study uses 6 different Bible translations, including the NLT.
It is not best practice to use multiple translations in one study.
Using many translations in one study: AI says, “A Bible teacher should generally not use six different translations in one study as it can be overwhelming and confusing for students, potentially detracting from the focus on understanding the text rather than comparing translation nuances; it’s usually better to stick with one primary translation and only reference a few others when necessary to clarify meaning or highlight translation variations in specific passages.”
I thanked the questioner for the query and for the encouragement and for reading my material here on the blog. Discernment is always good.
I am sorry to say that uniformly, almost anything from Lifeway is going to be bad. They unashamedly platform false teachers. A while back Lifeway published a spate of “heaven tourism” books where people who said they’d died were given a tour of heaven, some of them claiming to have met Jesus. Lifeway continued to publish these books for years until a big outcry finally pushed them off Lifeway’s shelves. Their years-long persistence in publishing these books, some of which contradicted each other and all contradicting the Bible, despite appeals, petitions, and rebukes, displayed a wanton lack of concern for the spiritual state of their customers, a lack of discernment, and a prioritizing of greed over truth.
Jen Wilkin left, Jackie Perry right
As for this specific study titled “When You Pray”, I’ve written several times about the authors Jackie Hill Perry, and Jen Wilkin. Both are egregious Bible twisters. Perry came out with an announcement that she receives direct revelation from Jesus and was instructed to tell people the different pieces of news ‘He’ tells her. Like this: “Ok ok. I’ll say this. God primarily deals with me in dreams. I’ve been enlightened, warned, and led to intercede for others through them.” She has since removed this Twitter announcement. You can read a transcript of it at the link above.
Jen Wilkin is obsessed with two things, preaching and women. This equals women preaching, she twists almost every sermon, Q&A, panel, or interview into a women need to be leaders WITH men (in roles the Bible denies us, of course). In one famous sermon she likened period blood (excerpt) from women to the blood on the cross, saying women have a better understanding of the gospel because of this. I am not kidding.
As for Minter & Rothschild, Michelle Lesley has written about them, discerning that these women preach to men and they support and promote false teachers. She does not recommend either of these women.
Alternatives to Lifeway’s When you Pray ‘study’ might be:
At Ligonier, there is a 6-week lesson series with video etc, called Prayer, where RC Sproul “uses the acronym ACTS and the Lord’s Prayer to teach us how to pray” 24 min each. It costs $9.00/month. https://connect.ligonier.org/library/prayer-27945/about/
Praying the Bible by Donald S. Whitney is a small book and 5-min youtube videos by the author go thru how to pray daily without falling into the rut of saying the same old thing. https://youtu.be/A-HziKu5Ot0?si=yU70QoTBvrklUrbw
Grace Community Church led by MacArthur has a huge small group ministry section for men and women, many of the lessons are taped or video’d and have accompanying pdf or notes.
I’d say any of those alternatives are better than Lifeway. 🙂
Lifeway is not a trustworthy source for any Christian material, sadly.
the-end-time.org 